Odds and Ends: Livan, Bartlett, Willis, Webb
Random pieces of rumorage…
- The Mets have expressed interest in Livan Hernandez, though he appears to be their Plan C or D.
- Jim Bowden and the Nats will be active in the trade market, perhaps finally pulling the trigger on deals for Chad Cordero and/or Jon Rauch.
- The Rays and Twins have had discussions about shortstop Jason Bartlett. Would a 1 for 1 trade for Rocco Baldelli make sense? Buster Olney believes the Rays should consider trading for the Nats’ Cristian Guzman.
- Update on the Rockies’ reliever situation. They’re probably going to pass on Ron Mahay and Jeremy Affeldt, while they should hear Matt Herges‘ decision today. Ron Villone is also in their sights.
- The D’Backs will no longer look at annual payroll. Instead, they have a three-year budget to spend. This may allow for a higher payroll in 2008 than 2009. Jack Magruder guesses the number is around $230-240MM for 2008-10.
- Speaking of Arizona, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic believes some kind of Carlos Gonzalez for Dontrelle Willis swap could make sense. Another D’Back note – they offered an extension to Brandon Webb for 2011-13, but he turned down their offer.
- The Scott Linebrink signing is done, and he gets some kind of no-trade protection.
Heyman’s Latest: Piazza, Matthews, Milledge
SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with a new Daily Scoop column full of rumors.
- A lot of the standard trade talk we’ve seen regarding Miguel Cabrera, Johan Santana, Miguel Tejada, and Dan Haren. All these guys require two good young players or more in a trade.
- Mike Piazza is considering DHing in Japan if he doesn’t find anything he likes in the U.S.
- Heyman talked to an AL exec who speculated that the Angels may try to unload Gary Matthews Jr. GMJ makes $9MM in ’08, $10MM in ’09, $11MM in ’10, and $12MM in ’11. He currently has a full no-trade clause.
- Juan Uribe and Vicente Padilla are two salary-dump types whose names have surfaced in recent trade talks (unrelated to each other). Padilla is owed $24.75MM over the next two seasons.
- Heyman believes the Mets are very willing to trade Lastings Milledge and have discussed him often.
- We knew the Mets had discussed Ramon Hernandez and Gerald Laird. Heyman adds the Nats’ Brian Schneider to the mix. He makes $4.9MM in ’08 and another $4.9MM in ’09.
Nationals Still Pursuing Dukes
A week ago, a Dominican news site reported that the Nationals were trying to acquire outfielder Elijah Dukes. It’s a love affair that’s gone on for some time now; Jim Bowden has a thing for athletic, troubled ballplayers. The Rays still want some kind of useful pitcher or shortstop in return, but the Nats don’t want to surrender anyone of value.
Tonight, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson has further details on Washington’s pursuit. He quotes a baseball official close to the situation who believes it’s more likely than not that the Nationals acquire Dukes. Coincidentally, the Nationals’ third base coach is currently coaching Dukes in winter ball. So far he’s avoided any incidents.
If the Nats acquire Dukes, they expect manager Manny Acta and first baseman Dmitri Young to act as mentors to keep him in line. Young had his own problems but has taken advantage of a second chance.
Hunter Receives Five Offers
Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, normally their Cubs guy, has the scoop on the Torii Hunter situation.
Wittenmyer says Hunter has at least five offers in hand. Four of them are for five years, while the Rangers have offered six. This doesn’t count the Twins’ lowball 3/45 offer.
So which five clubs have made proposals to Hunter? The Rangers, White Sox, Dodgers, Royals, and Nationals comprise the list. Wittenmyer notes that the Dodgers could get aggressive on Hunter if they miss out on Miguel Cabrera. Also, the Yankees could trade Melky Cabrera and jump in. The amounts offered aren’t well known, but Wittenmyer says the Rangers are just under $15MM per year.
Hunter hopes to decide next week so he doesn’t have to attend the Winter Meetings the week after that. Don’t underestimate the Royals, who blew everyone away last year by winning the bidding for Gil Meche. Still, the White Sox and Rangers are the clear frontrunners.
Cubs Rumors: Wood, Matsui, Crawford
The Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan has the latest on the Cubs this morning.
- It’s been known for a few days now that the Red Sox like the idea of adding Kerry Wood as their setup man. Sullivan confirms the interest, and quotes Cubs GM Jim Hendry saying Wood is "getting a lot of action around the industry." In a pitching-starved market, teams will convince themselves Wood can stay healthy and dominant. Sullivan speculates that it could take multiple years at $5MM per. To see a team go 3/15 would not shock me.
- Kaz Matsui is still on the Cubs’ radar for a three-year deal. They could consider using him at shortstop or second base. Two days ago Tracy Ringolsby had said Matsui "appeared headed to the Astros," but Ken Rosenthal chimed in noting the Cubs and Rockies are ahead of Houston in the Matsui derby. Hendry met with Matsui yesterday, but no deal is imminent.
- A left-handed hitting outfielder remains on Hendry’s wish list. Carl Crawford hasn’t yet been made available according to Sullivan, but the Cubs will surely look into it if he is. Kosuke Fukudome remains a possibility as well. Bruce Miles adds Ryan Church to the mix.
- The Cubs expect to increase payroll beyond last year’s $110MM.
Will Andruw Take One Year?
According to Scott Boras, his client Andruw Jones will not be taking a one-year deal to rebuild his value. Boras cites Jones’ home run total, RBI total, and Gold Gloves as evidence that he deserves a marquee contract. That might work if it were 1990 and OBP, SLG, and better fielding metrics weren’t standard. Is Boras losing his touch?
Boras said the same thing a couple of months ago: "I wouldn’t even consider a one-year contract with Andruw Jones." This was a few days after Andruw admitted he’d listen to any offer. Crasnick’s article (linked in the first post) indicates that only the Nationals have expressed interest in him so far.
Blue Jays, Nationals, Rays Notes
We’ll start with the Blue Jays. Jordan Bastian has an article up on MLB.com reporting that the Jays have been in contact with Matt Clement. He says that the team has "always liked Matt," but added that he think "it depends on what Matt’s looking for a this point."
Indeed, Bastian opines that the club "would likely take a shot on Clement if the pitcher agreed to a Minor League contract with a chance at competing for a job with the Jays." With interest from a few other clubs, that seems unlikely. So this is likely one big non-rumor.
The article also quotes Ricciardi saying that Reed Johnson will be the team’s leadoff hitter in 2008, "for the most part." This would indicate that Matt Stairs is indeed a backup, and it certainly doesn’t bode well for Adam Lind. It surely fuels the speculation that Lind could be traded, as Keith Law noted yesterday.
Finally, the Jays are looking to bring back Sal Fasano to back up Gregg Zaun, though that might not happen until Fasano shops his services at the Winter Meetings, beginning December 3. Note that I am disappointed that Sal doesn’t have his own category here at MLBTR.
On the Rays end, we have reports that Nationals manager Many Acta has attended Elijah Dukes’s games in the Dominican this winter. Dukes’s team is managed by Tim Tolman, the Nats’ third base coach. 7dias.com reports that Dukes has said that "he desperately needs to leave Tampa Bay in order to resuscitate his career."
There’s a note on the Rays possibly being interested in Michael Barrett, but then mentions the forfeiture of the team’s second round pick as a deterrent. Indeed, Barrett may have few options beyond the Padres because of his free agent classification.
Speaking of catchers, if anyone was hoping that the Rays would leave catcher John Jaso (.316/.408/.484 at AA this year) off their 40-man roster, you’re going to be disappointed. The Rays plan to add him prior to Tuesday’s deadline for the Rule 5 draft.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
Padres Look To Extend Peavy
Jake Peavy will soon add a Cy Young to his resume, and the Padres would like to explore a contract extension with him. Under his current contract, Peavy will earn $6.5MM in ’08 and $11MM in ’09 once he wins the award. The Padres would like to extend him for the 2010 and 2011 seasons and possibly more.
Peavy realizes the Padres won’t give him the $18MM+ per year he could earn on the free market. But an extension for 2010-11 in the range of $32-35MM could work.
It’s been assumed that any team trading for Peavy this winter would have him for two seasons. However, that isn’t the case – Tom Krasovic says he could opt for free agency after ’08 as a player traded during a multiyear deal. I assume Dan Haren has the same right, but Erik Bedard does not. That certainly bumps up Bedard’s value.
Krasovic also adds that the Padres have their eye on Jim Edmonds and Ryan Church as center field options. The Padres would expect Edmonds to be a salary dump and the Cards to throw in some cash. Meanwhile Jim Bowden has a high asking price for Church.
Odds and Ends: Kendrick, Uggla, Haren
Another random collection of rumorage…
- The Braves have "many millions more" to spend on players this winter. One emailer suggested that maybe the Braves will offer arbitration to Andruw Jones and he’ll accept.
- Corey Patterson and the Nationals have mutual interest. Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan considers him a possible bargain, noting that he is only 28.
- We figured the Padres and Matt Clement had mutual interest. Now it’s official. Clement wants a one-year deal with incentives.
- Tracy Ringolsby confirms that Yorvit Torrealba wants a three-year deal. He says the Rockies are at two years, $7MM, the Marlins are in the same range, and the Mets are at two years, $9MM. UPDATE: The Denver Post says Torrealba will have a decision Thursday.
- Interesting Miguel Cabrera stuff from the L.A. Times. Howie Kendrick is not considered untouchable, but the Marlins might have to include Dan Uggla. Basically if the Marlins are to get four players back, they’ll have to add Uggla or Dontrelle Willis to the deal.
- Our friends at Gotham Baseball say if the Mets were to acquire Dan Haren, the package would start with Billy Beane favorite John Maine. Mark Healey figures Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman would have to go also.
- Ken Rosenthal thinks a one-year, $8MM offer from Atlanta would be enough to secure Tom Glavine.
- The D’Backs’ main trading chip is outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. It appears that the team explored what they could get for Conor Jackson and decided to keep him.
Marlins Interested In Torrealba, Barrett, Maroth
Joe Capozzi checks in with a look at the Marlins’ approach toward free agency this winter.
It sounds like the Fish are willing to spend a few bucks to upgrade on Miguel Olivo in the catcher spot. Do they go for the defensive-minded Yorvit Torrealba, or the typically offensive-minded Michael Barrett? So far the Marlins are leaning toward Torrealba, but would have to beat the Rockies’ two-year, $6MM offer. And the Mets’ level of interest probably just increased with Jorge Posada staying with the Yankees.
Barrett has a Jeffrey Loria connection, but might seek a two-year deal for $8MM or so. The Padres might roll the dice and offer him arbitration. If they do he declines then the price for another team to sign him increases signficantly – a first or second round draft pick. The Marlins #6 overall pick is protected, as is the Devil Rays’ #1 overall pick. In contrast, teams like the Brewers, Blue Jays, Mets, and Rockies risk losing first round picks if they sign Type A free agents who declined arbitration. Another way to lose those picks would be to sign Type A guys before December 2nd.
Capozzi says the Fish could also look at Paul Lo Duca, Damian Miller, or Rod Barajas if the first two choices fall through.
The Marlins will surf the bargain bin for one veteran starter, and they’re currently targeting Mike Maroth. I like it. He’s an Orlando native who could bounce back and win ten games in ’08. Capozzi also says the Marlins are in touch with Aaron Boone‘s agent, but will have competition from the Nationals.